The Politics of Neuromania: Quality of Life‏‏‏

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

As a pre-pubescent girl I learned from my mother that the Church knows nothing about divinity. I compared myself to peers whose parents were enthralled to the Church or one of its subsidiary scions. I noticed that the quality of my life had a certain aspect that was missing from the lives of those peers. The teachers at the school I attended did not whack us with a ruler or force us to sit in a corner when we got caught in one of our sinister antics. My sisters and I were not forced to listen to dull sermons on Sundays instead of exploring the world around us in joy and adventure. We did not have to wear uncomfortable clothes whose cost meant the sacrifice of more precious goods and services. We were not coerced into peddling boxes of addictive sugar cookies on an annual basis.

My peers tried to use the terror of eternal torment to convert me to their own indoctrinated servility. My mother's observations on the ignorance of the Church echoed in my mind as I weighed the costs and benefits of taking my peers seriously. Their vicious and brutal punishment for ignoring the dictates of the Church comes straight from the organization that knows nothing about divinity. Why should I invest emotional energy into a deception? It would only degrade my quality of life to the level of my peers.

There is an inverse version of Pascal's Wager that I did not comprehend until later in life. If there is no after-death experience, or if the Church is otherwise wrong about an such experience, then listening to Church leaders will hinder a person from living life to its fullest. The experience of beatitude before death is not available to those enthralled to the deception of eternal torment. The only way to transcend suffering is to ignore the advise of those who are enslaved to suffering. Pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

How can this notion be applied to the secular domain of public policy? Consider the case of Iraq. A great deal of hay was made over how much the people of Iraq suffered under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. The people who raised such a fuss were apologetic about the suffering caused by their own "do good" efforts at regime change. Meet the new boss: far worse than the old boss. At least the neocon slaves of eternal damnation can see themselves as having earned their wings in the pit of Hell. We can extend this analysis to the Vietnam tragedy as well. The village must be obliterated in order to save it.

Does this give you any optimism over US intervention in Korea, Iran, or Syria? Do you suspect that the people enslaved to eternal damnation stuck their noses into the Iranian elections?

Links: Lis Gabriels on public safety in Bush's Iraq. Nature article on mass kidnapping in Baghdad. Press TV interview with Gordon Duff on interference in Iranian elections.

Comments

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Because brevity is the soul of wit.

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

So we don't assess the length of different types of presentations according to different standards? A brief commencement speech is the same length as a brief commercial for soap? A brief philosophy lecture is the same length as a brief wedding toast?

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Oops. I believe I spotted a flaw in the emperor's new clothes.

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

?

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Has someone got a mirror?

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

A mirror would serve what purpose?

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

You're naked apparently, put some clothes on Lenny!

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

I work from home. Easy access to leftovers and working naked are sort of central to the lifestyle.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

I was told by a sage that brevity is the soul of wit. They didn't deign further elaboration, and I didn't ask because... well... sages oughtn't explain 'emselves. They just know things.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Funny, I heard the same thing but it was not from a sage. It was said by a guy hiding under a bridge.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Well, now. Let's not be too judgmental of people's wisdom based on the places they inhabit.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

bridges tend to have easier access then, say, a wizard tower or the peaks of the Himalayas

I like sages who are piratical-minded myself.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Depends on the particular bridge. There are some that start from somewhere and end in the middle of nowhere.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

There was an bridge in my home town that remained unfinished for quite some time. I recall watching kids jump off of it into the river. There was also an incident when a drunk driver somehow got onto the bridge and drover off of the end into the water.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

They say that cardboard makes for decent bedding material.

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

So you're saying that a brief State of the Union address has the same word-count as a brief wedding toast. Fascinating.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

I'll have to ask the sage in order to learn more about that.

Fascinating.

It is, isn't it?

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

Let's try this again. Are you accusing me of some sort of hypocrisy because I expressed admiration for the conciseness of this post -- even though the very first time I gave a public talk about a scriptural them, I may or may not have uttered less than 300 words?

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Nope.

Now what.


(^ See? Conciseness is so awesome.)

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

So is clarity. So you had no point other than to troll?

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

I have herd some pretty long-winded wedding toasts in my time...

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

HEARD

I am terrible today

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

A ten-minute wedding toast is long-winded. A ten-minute sermon is a model of brevity. Context, context.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Lets just say that dancing and toasts are inversely related at a wedding.

I been to one where, due to the couple being ultra-religious, there was no dancing and no alcohol. Those had some long toasts lol...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Children are to be scene and not herd.



BTW, you could simply have fixed the typo by editing the comment.